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Germany thinks talking about sending EU troops to Ukraine premature — Cabinet

Olaf Scholz stressed that a peace agreement should be reached first

BERLIN, February 28. /TASS/. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz believes that discussing deploying European troops to Ukraine before a peace deal is done is putting the cart before the horse, said German Federal Government Spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit.

"The chancellor's position on this issue is quite clear: he has always said that he considers this discussion premature at the moment," Hebestreit said. "Differing sides are coming out with differing statements about what is acceptable."

He said a peace agreement should be reached first, and only then can talk begin about making military arrangements.

Earlier, French Finance Minister Eric Lombard said that several European countries, including Britain, Germany and France, were ready to send troops to Ukraine to ensure a ceasefire, but needed a US "backstop" to reinforce them. US President Donald Trump said earlier that the US is ready to support European countries should they decide to deploy their peacekeepers in Ukraine. According to him, this is a simple matter — the real difficulty lies in resolving the conflict itself.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said earlier that Moscow opposes the idea of deploying European peacekeepers in Ukraine, because it would be a step towards escalation.